1. Field of Invention
Various example embodiments of the present invention relate to configuring wireless communication, and in particular, to adjusting antenna systems to select directional communication beams for enhancing wireless communication quality.
2. Background
Recent interest in the development of very high-speed wireless networks for short range communication has been fueled by the increase in emerging broadband applications such as a wireless high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), gaming interfaces, high-speed backhaul and content distribution services, etc. The 60 GHz millimeter band (mmWave) has been targeted for the implementation of such high speed and/or capacity wireless networks due to the worldwide availability of huge unlicensed spectrum in this band. For example, emerging very high throughput wireless local area network (VHT WLAN) standards are currently aiming at very high throughput targets over 1 Gbps data rates.
However, there are many challenges to implementing an architecture in the mmWave band. For example, potential radio designs will be impacted by link budget constraints. In particular, compared to lower frequency band systems, the coverage range in the mmWave band is severely limited by very high free space propagation loss, higher penetration, reflection and scattering losses and atmospheric oxygen absorption that will be experienced by communication carrier waves operating within this spectrum.
Greater sensitivity to environmental influences may impact the operational efficiency of communication in the mmWave band. Overall wireless signal quality may suffer (e.g., unstable connections and lost packet retransmission may noticeably impact communication performance, as well as other systems relying upon these resources), and therefore, any capacity benefits that could be realized by operating in the 60 GHz band may therefore be somewhat nullified by poor communication performance. At least the above operational impediments should be overcome before wireless communication in the mmWave band will be deemed robust enough for mainstream use.